Sorry posting for traffic
I have a friend who is currently renting (it's a letting agency acting on behalf on the landlord) she's been there 4 months (on a 6 month agreement) but wants out now as they are a nightmare
The boiler has never worked
There is damp in the hall way
The roof leaks into one of the bedrooms
One of the windows upstairs is broke and has never shut
A few of the radiators are broken (the pipes don't connect at the bottom)
(Baring in mind she also has a 14 yo DS)
All this since day 1 has been reported and it's never been fixed. Without revealing too much, my friend moved in quick as another house she was moving to fell through last minute and needed to leave the old one. On top of that, her daughter was giving birth at the same time and had a rough time spending a week in hospital with the baby. My friend and her daughters partner took it in turns to help her as she was really ill. So didn't realise so much work needed to be done beforehand
I didn't realise how bad things were till I went round last week and the state of how they've fixed things is shocking (for example in the bathroom the sealant is about 6 inches high around the bath tub!) Literally spent no money before my friend moved in.
She's started to write emails to them every time she has contact with them now. Never once received a reply. Supposed to come last week for an 'inspection, didn't turn up (no phone call - no contact at all) and failed to turn up today as well. Threatening to enter on both occasions if she's not home they will come in with a spare key?
I might be out the loop as I'm not renting, nor rent - but can they do that? Yes it was 24 hour notice but what about privacy? Not turning up when they say and demanding she must stay in or use another key? They never give a time just a date? I know this is soo unprofessional as a 'company' but are they allowed to do this?
We've contacted the council today to alert them & told this 'agency' repairs must be fixed as a matter of urgency. I don't have much faith - what else can I do to help my friend? She's got so much on her plate and I just want to understand how I can escalate this further
She has all emails, texts and letters as evidence
Photos of all the issues since moving in
Escalated to council
We've just got details of the actual landlord to tell him what's happening - should she contact him yet?
Has anyone else been in a similar position?
TIA